-The Hindu In his article in The Hindu (editorial page, “Making a mockery of domestic gas pricing,” January 18, 2013, Surya P. Sethi attacks the gas pricing formula proposed by the Rangarajan Committee, curiously enough, for being based on numbers from foreign markets that do not reflect the supply, demand or cost of production in India. I say “curiously” because on the exact opposite side, domestic producers are also pillorying the committee’s...

-The Hindu OMCs will revise price every month until losses are wiped out The Centre is seized of some State governments’ directive to their transport undertakings (STU) to line up at retail outlets for refuelling following the removal of subsidy for bulk consumers of diesel, Petroleum Minister M. Veerappa Moily said on Friday. Talking to reporters here, Mr. Moily said he had heard that States such as Gujarat and Tamil Nadu had asked...

-Economic and Political Weekly We support cash transfers such as old-age pensions, widow pensions, maternity entitlements and scholarships. However, we oppose the government’s plan for accelerated mass conversion of welfare schemes to Unique Identification Authority (UID)-driven cash transfers. This plan could cause havoc and massive social exclusion. We demand the following: (1) No replacement of food with cash under the public distribution system (PDS). (2) Immediate enactment of a comprehensive National Food Security...

-Frontline The Congress-led UPA seems to be betting heavily on the cash transfer scheme as a means to return to power in the next general elections. DECEMBER 2012 may go down in history as the month when the Congress party created its own “India Shining” moment: the moment when it started believing its own hype, and even deluded itself into thinking that its perception was so widely shared that it could provide...

-The Hindu The Delhi Government has saved nearly Rs.30,000 crore due to power privatisation and this money has been invested in improving the infrastructure. This has resulted in meeting the peak power demand of up to 6,250 MW and minimal power cuts despite the average annual per capita power consumption in the Capital being 1,450 units, almost twice the national average, Delhi Power Minister Haroon Yusuf said while replying to a...